Teenage Pregnany

II. OBJECTIVES ➢ To be aware of the consequences of teenage pregnancy ➢ To understand the risks of teenage pregnancy and identify some ways to prevent it ➢ To know the possible causes and effects of teenage pregnancy

III. INTRODUCTION

Dealing with the responsibility of being a parent is one of the hardest tasks to take on. Becoming a parent involves emotion, compassion, dedication, strength, knowledge, protectiveness, and being able to financially support the child. Parenting also involves many other components, which sometimes come with the territory of being a parent. One of the major concerns of having a child or becoming a parent is to do so when you're old and mature enough to take on the responsibility. One of the problems in today's society is teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy is defined as a teenage or underage girl, usually within the ages of 13 -17, becoming pregnant. The term in everyday speech usually refers to women who have not reached legal adulthood, which varies across the world, who become pregnant. It is a worldwide problem that accompanies the initiation of sexual activity at increasingly younger ages.

The risk of pregnancy in teenagers is increasing largely. Many teenagers don't know how big of a responsibility it is to raise another human being when they themselves still have a lot of growing to do. Also, teenagers are more prone to risks during a pregnancy than a twenty or thirty year old woman would be. Becoming a teen parent automatically gives you a big responsibility to deal with. This means that all of your personal priorities are set aside and that your child comes first. Most teens don't even know how to take care of a child. Taking care of your own child isn't like babysitting; it is a full time job. Dealing with children involves a lot of patience, which a lot of teens don't have.

Teenage mothers do not only have to face social stigma and discrimination but also are more prone to complications related to pregnancy. Pregnant teens are at more risk for certain health problems (such as high blood pressure or anemia) than pregnant women who are older. Pregnant teens also are more likely to go into labor too early. These risks are even greater for teens that are younger than age 15 years.

As a teen, finding out that you are pregnant is a life-changing and scary event. As a parent, finding out your teen is pregnant can both shock you and cause despair.

IV. DATA ANALYSIS

1. CONSEQUENCES OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY

Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young woman passes through. The stress of pregnancy, revelation of pregnancy to parents, and moving on despite the shame and worry can be terrifying.

• Teenagers who have babies are more likely to not finish high school and have their future plans interrupted. With her education cut short, a teenage mother may lack job skills, making it hard for her to find and keep a job. A teenage mother may become financially dependent on her family or on public assistance. This leads to less income and more people in poverty.

• Children of teenage mothers get minimum health care
• In countries like India, a girl and her family are ridiculed in society

• Getting financial security and raising their children becomes difficult for teenage mothers

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Risks of Teenage Sex
Premarital sex is a huge problem in society today. People everywhere are not waiting until they get married to have sex. The young people having sex are not aware of the consequences and the risks that come with having sex. They just think it is fun and it gives them something to do but sex is a very serious thing. Currently more than 45% of high school females and 48% of high school males have had sexual intercourse. The average age of first intercourse is 17 years for girls and 16 years for boys. However approximately one fourth of all teens report having had intercourse by 15 years of age. Here are three reasons why teenagers should wait to have intercourse; Teenagers have a high possibility of not being able to finish high school if and when they get pregnant, sexually transmitted diseases, and health risks for both the teenage mother and the young child. Pre-marital sex can lead to life threatening circumstances and self destruction.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases are infections that are transmitted through sexual intercourse with another domestic partner. Three million teens are affected by sexually transmitted disease annually out of a 12 million cases reported. Theses include Chlamydia (which can cause sterility), syphilis (which can cause blindness, maternal death, and death of the infant) and HIV (the virus which causes AIDS, which may be fatal to the mother and infant. As many as 1 in 20...

...point? There are so many things we as teenagers have to gain during our teenage life especially our maturity. So how can we do that and also take responsibility for another child? Teenage pregnancy is complicated by our conflicting attitudes and behaviors. Yet we are shocked at the increasing numbers of teens who are sexually active. As we all know, teenage pregnancy is on the rampage in St. Kitts and we are all wondering what may be the cause of it. In my presentation, I will first outline what is teenage pregnancy, depict the causes of teenage pregnancy, and also state some risk factors of teenage pregnancy and also state some recommendations on how I think we can curb teenage pregnancy.
What is Teenage Pregnancy?
Teenage pregnancy is technically defined as occurring when a woman under the age of 20 becomes pregnant.
The youngest mother who ever gave birth was Lina Medina, who, in 1939, gave birth to a boy at the age of five. (Source: Wikepedia). Most girls however, do not become fully fertile until much later, example; the average age of menarche (first menstrual period) in St. Kitts is 11.5 years.
Babies born to teenagers are at risk from neglect and abuse because their young mothers are uncertain about their roles and may be frustrated by the constant demands of caretaking.
The number of births to teenagers in St. Kitts has been...

...Teenage pregnancy can be defined as pregnancy of women who have not reached twenty years when the pregnancy ends regardless of the marital status. In South Africa one in three girls has had a pregnancy before the age of twenty. The community at large is aware of the problem of teenage pregnancy. Young women in our communities are falling pregnant while still at school, which limits their ability to achieve their long awaited goals in life. It also puts them at high risk of being infected with HIV because they are having unprotected sex. In the Eastern Cape, HIV prevalence is higher among school aged youth than adults and the province has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country. Causes such as social pressure, child support grant and lack of education to name a few, have been the major causes of teenage pregnancies. However there need to be solutions in order to reduce these high rates of teenage pregnancies. This essay is going to explore the causes of teenage pregnancies in East London and also the solution to this problem.
Social Pressures are the combined pressures that surround one during everyday life such as Peer Pressure, Academic Pressures and Socioeconomic Pressure. Poverty is associated with increased rates of teenage pregnancy. Peer pressure usually arises from friends at school who influence each other in gang activities such as smoking or drinking...

...Teen Pregnancy: In the 21st Century
Shefali Patel, Matthew R Kauhn, Tammara Cheeks, Aleisha S Shields, and Kalenes Thompson
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Statistics
Thirteen percent of teens have had sex by the age of fifteen. In 2006, through 2012 ninety-six percent or teens used a condom, at least fifty-seven percent used withdrawal and fifty-six used the pill. One in five female is at risk of unintended pregnancy and nineteen percent were not using any contraceptive during intercourse. In 2008 New Mexico had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy along with Mississippi, Texas and Nevada. The lowest rates were 33 percent per one-thousand pregnancies in New Hampshire along with Vermont, Minnesota, North Dakota and Massachusetts. Fifty-eight percent of teen girls who become pregnant report to be upset who become pregnant, twenty-nine percent a little upset and the rest are pleased.
Furthermore, ten percent of all U.S. births are girls who are nineteen and younger. Teens that have children are looked upon as not having a good education. Teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and will take time to go back and receive their high school diploma or obtain a GED by the age of twenty-two. Six percent of teen mother’s age fifteen to nineteen received late or no prenatal care at all. Nevertheless, forty-six percent of teen males reported that they would be upset if they were to have a child, thirty-four percent would be a little upset...

...Teenage pregnancy is a social problem that affects the entire community. It is important to examine the causes of this problem, the effects the problem has on our society and the individual, and some of the possible ways of combating this problem. In every city in the United States teenage girls and boys face premature parenthood. If they chose to accept the responsibility of their actions and not opt for either abortion or adoption, they have to grow up quickly in order to face many harsh realities--these can include early marriage, health risks, interrupted education, lack of employment skills, and, usually, inevitable poverty. Teenage parents are very likely to become dependent on either their families for financial help or the welfare system, and to remain dependent for many years. The emotional devastation on these young people can lead to life-long scars.
Teen pregnancy is a problem that not only affects individuals, but society as a whole. It is important to understand the psychological effects of becoming pregnant at such a young age. The teenage years are acknowledged to already produce emotional turmoil in adolescents; it is therefore difficult to imagine the added stress of an unplanned and often unwanted pregnancy. Just as there are many physical changes during pregnancy, there are also many psychological changes as well. Depression and denial are the first emotional state that most pregnant girls...

...Acknowledgement
Introduction
Unmarried, pregnant adolescents face a variety of difficult decisions. They must decide whether to give birth or to have an abortion, and whether to raise a child they bear or to place the baby for adoption. Simultaneously, they must make the same critical decisions about school, work and relationships as other teenagers must make. In designing interventions to help young women make the transition from adolescence to adulthood without having an unintended birth, it is important to understand the life circumstances, motivations and events that lead some unmarried teenagers to become pregnant and the processes involved in the decision to carry a nonmarital teenage pregnancy to term.
Some researchers have investigated factors influencing the pregnancy options considered by young women in the United States who choose abortion;1 others have explored pregnancy decision-making by comparing the characteristics of young women who opt for abortion, birth or adoption.2 But rarely has pregnancy decision-making been investigated by examining the influences bearing on young women who choose to give birth. What events and communication patterns lead pregnant teenagers to this decision? Who helps them the most in making their decision, and what options do the women, their partners and their parents consider? And how does decision-making differ according to young women's pregnancy intentions and background characteristics?...

...TEENAGE PREGNANCY
Introduction
This document presents an analysis of teenage pregnancy as social issue. How society looks at teenage pregnancy and impact on other categories. This document also represents facts about teenage pregnancy, impact to society and suggestion on how to improve the situation. This document discusses different methods for research and uses some example of methods to provide analysis of teenage pregnancy and effect to society.
Important for Sociological Consideration
As a social issue, teen pregnancies can be a direct result of contributing social problems: poverty, poor education, a history of physical and sexual abuse, poor self-esteem, and unemployment. Teens that perform at poor academic levels, or are born to mothers who were teen mothers themselves, are also at a higher risk for teen pregnancy. Young people's sexual behavior is largely determined by social influences and around the globe; these influences are strikingly similar (DeNoon, Daniel J, 2011). Social impact of their behavior makes teenage pregnancy an important social issue. There are multiple reasons which this issue is important and why it required attention. One change is biological as 100 years ago; the average age for women to become pregnant was 18 years old, mostly because of poor nutrition. Now that we're more educated and our diets have been altered so that we receive better...